Eliot Spitzer explains his return

Saying he will point the public to his record as attorney general and governor, Spitzer said on Press’s radio show that he hoped the public’s ability to forgive would include him.

“Politics is a contact sport. I made significant errors. I stood up, accepted responsibility, resigned. It’s now been five years. I hope the public will extend its forgiveness to me. The public is forgiving, whether that forgiveness extends to me is a separate question. I will ask for it,” Spitzer told Press.

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In those five years, Spitzer said, he was focused on nonpolitical things, but he’s eager to get back into public service.

“I don’t want to make it sound as though somehow I couldn’t survive without it; I had, have family, other pursuits. But yes, public service is what I professionally find not only most satisfying but most important. And to my career, that is where I’ve derived the greatest joy,” Spitzer said Monday on the “John Gambling Show” on WOR 710. “Public service is what I was raised to believe in.”

Spitzer also was asked by multiple interviewers about whether fellow New York political comeback candidate Anthony Weiner’s bid for New York mayor influenced him.

“Every case is very different,” Spitzer told Press.

“Obviously, anybody who is watching politics is aware of that reception, but every race is fundamentally different, and every story is different,” he said on WOR.

Spitzer was also asked about his family. His wife famously stood by his side as he announced his resignation in 2008.

Asked on “CBS This Morning” if he and his wife were separated, Spitzer simply said, “No.” He said he discussed his run with his family and wouldn’t do it without their support, and you just have to deal with the toll it takes.

“You need willpower, you need fortitude, you need skin as thick as a rhinoceros has and you need a desire to serve the public,” Spitzer said.

He answered “yes” when asked on “Hardball” whether the public would see his wife on the campaign trail, and said the same when asked whether his family was on board.

Spitzer, a multimillionaire, told local TV station NY1 he plans to finance his campaign with his own money.

Spitzer needs to collect nearly 4,000 signatures by Thursday to appear on the ballot.

One declared candidate Spitzer will face is Kristin Davis, an ex-madam linked to his prostitution scandal who is running as a libertarian.

CBS co-host Gayle King mentioned to Spitzer at the end of his interview that Davis said to him, “Bring it on.”